Weeds and Pecan Trees

Are we there yet?

Not so much in the sense of being on a trip and asking the driver over and over regarding reaching your destination. More so in living in the tension of what’s already happened, what’s happening around us, and what’s still to come.

Are we there yet?

I know right now it feels like we have so many things going on. We’re checking off all the boxes. Making sure to send all the replies. Asking all the right questions. It can feel like we are just running around on a hamster wheel; we’re working as hard as we can, but we’re not actually going anywhere. 

Sometimes I look around and all I see are weeds and pecan trees. I’m not sure how long it took the weeds out in the field to become noticeably unwanted. I’m not sure how long it took the pecan trees to reach their grand stature. Even they can appear to be a weed if they aren’t producing as they should or have lost some of their limbs. 

Life looks a little dried up and desolate, too, doesn’t it, depending on how you view it?

Somehow, we miss the little memos God places for us to remind us that we are meant for more than the futile things around us.

We miss the beautiful wildflowers growing among the weeds. We miss the patch of grass near the pecan tree where we once lazed about on a Sunday afternoon. We miss the worn path where our feet used to run on the way to play in the creek. 

We miss the man holding the door for us at the grocery store. The baby saying her first words. A wife seeing her husband for the first time after being abroad in the service. The first yes after a long string of nos. 

It takes intentionality to change your perspective. Maybe it is time for us to actually sit down and…smell the roses. Even if they are burnt up from the South Georgia heat.

Friends, it’s ok to look back at the weeds and remember the thorns and thistles that thwarted you in the past. This allows you to see that even then, God was pruning and providing, sowing and supplying. Open your eyes and take inventory of the things around you. Thank God for not letting you stay stuck in the weeds. 

I’ll leave you with this thought that God laid on my heart: Don’t miss what’s waiting for you while you’re wading through the weeds and looking at the pecan trees. 

Isaiah 41:19-20 “I will put the cedar in the wilderness, the acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree; I will place the juniper in the desert together with the box tree and the cypress, that they may see and recognize, and consider and gain insight as well, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

Matthew 7:17-19 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Luke 6:44 “For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.”

Luke 8:11-15 “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.”